The depth of train tracks below the platform at which passengers wait for an approaching train constitutes a serious security risk due to the possibility that one of the waiting passengers is liable to fall onto the tracks and be injured by the passing train.
It would be desirable to provide means for isolating the waiting passengers from the tracks and for permitting access to the tracks only after the train has arrived at the station and has stopped.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,721,653 discloses a static wall assembly including a segmented support frame with a rectilinear shape. The static wall assembly further includes a plurality of transparent fiberglass panels directly coupled to the support frame and spaced along an entire longitudinal length of the support frame. A mechanism automatically biases access doors between open and closed positions by means of a plurality of sensors positioned at selected portions of the wall assembly when a subway train arrives and leaves a train terminal respectively such that passengers are prohibited from premature ingress and egress of the subway train during a schedule stop.
This assembly is adapted for use in conjunction with electrically powered subway trains that stop at predetermined locations, to facilitate alignment of the access doors with a subway train. However, this static wall arrangement is insufficient for use with intercity, diesel powered trains that stop at varied or unpredictable locations within the station. Also, the train bottom is located above the platform, and there is a distinct security risk that unsuspecting passengers, especially small children, are liable fall through the opening between the train bottom and platform onto the train tracks.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,668 discloses a platform door system that comprises barrier elements which can be aligned along a track and/or a platform. The barrier elements can be shifted on two mutually spaced rails in both directions, a distance equal to the amount the train has missed its intended position, such that they can partially overlap with each other so that freely selectable, predetermined openings are created along the track and/or along the platform. In one embodiment, the barrier elements can be shifted orthogonally to the platform edge, and in another, the barrier elements can be pivoted or lowered.
This platform door system is complicated and therefore costly, as it requires a pair of rails parallel to the platform edge, secondary rails to enable displacement in an orthogonal direction to the platform edge, and drive means to selectively drive the barrier elements in a desired direction. Another disadvantage is that the positioning of the barrier elements in overlapping relation with each other unduly reduces the available area of the waiting room at the station. Furthermore, passengers are liable to be in mortal danger while remaining trapped between the closed barrier elements and the platform edge after the train closed its doors and before the trapped passengers were able to climb aboard.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a train platform located security system by which a single expanse of barrier elements isolate the waiting passengers at a train station from the platform edge and are also repositionable in response to a final unpredictable location along the platform edge of a train to define openings that are able to be aligned with the corresponding doors of the train.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a train platform located security system that minimizes the number of drive components that are needed to displace the barrier elements.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a train platform located security system that prevents passengers from falling through the opening between the train bottom and platform onto the train tracks.
It is yet an additional object of the present invention to provide a train platform located security system that prevents passengers from being trapped between the closed barrier elements and the platform edge.
It is yet an additional object of the present invention to provide a train platform located security system with a continuous passageway from the waiting area to an arrived train, to assist disabled passengers and passengers wheeling pieces of luggage or strollers to independently access the train without the need of climbing stairs.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.